That.....thing.....is a fish. I know, you think it's more like a demon, but no, it's a fish.

There are a lot of things in the sea that are.....not exactly the most pleasant things to look at. Not only that, but you probably don't want to touch a lot of them, either.

But, just because you don't like the way they look, or just because they shouldn't be touched, doesn't mean we shouldn't.

The fish you see there is a Monkfish. And, you can tell by the things protruding from it's face that it's a member of the Angler Fish family. They live deep, where it's dark, and the protuberance from it's face has a sac that contains a fluid that is bioluminescent. That is, it glows. And that glowing attracts small fish like a moth to flame. The Monkfish slowly moves the light closer....closer....and.....CHOMP!

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But hey, a guy's got to eat, right?

And speaking of eating, you wouldn't know it by looking at it, but the Monkfish is quickly becoming a delicacy. The tail meat has a texture and taste that a lot of people describe as being very lobster-like. In fact, Monkfish filets used to be called 'Poor mans lobster'.

Well, because it was so cheap, but could almost be passed off as lobster, it started gaining in popularity. So now, Monkfish is actually more expensive than lobster. And, it's so popular, scientists are beginning to question wether or not the harvest is sustainable.

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Now, lets compare the ugly, but tasty Monkfish with another fish from the sea.

This is the Blobfish. And, it's even uglier.

So, if we scale the ugliness of the Monkfish and the Blobfish, then, if the Monkfish tastes like lobster, the Blobfish must taste like mana from heaven, right?

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Well, no one really knows. The Blobfish is made up mostly of a muscle-free, gelatin like mass of....blob. So, cooking it is not really an option. Besides, this may be one of the foods Andrew Zimmern would refuse to even try.

So, this tells us that, just because something is ugly, doesn't mean it's tasty.

I feel a little guilty for shoving two of the ugliest fish in the world at you so early. So, to make up for it, have a Long-Eared Jeroba!

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It's so cute I just want to hug it up!

Still trying to figure out whats so odd about todays post? Well, the odd part is, I felt like showing a picture of the Blobfish. And this post was an excuse to do so. Sometimes the odd part of my posts isn't the subject, but the author.

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Now, c'mon.....who's your favorite Otter? (Is it the baby otter attacking the stuffed walrus? Because I love that little guy...)